Future multirole light aircraft
Develop a low-cost, single-engine multirole light aircraft for combat and reconnaissance in hostile environments.
This call seeks research on a new multirole light aircraft to replace ageing fleets in Europe. The aircraft should support combat roles like light attack and anti-drone interception. It must be cost-effective and operate in various hostile environments.
Likely relevant for
- Aerospace manufacturers
- Defence technology researchers
- Military technology developers
- Aircraft design engineers
- Research institutions in defence and aerospace
Project signals
What it funds
- Research and design of a new multirole light aircraft
- Studies and design activities including upstream and downstream research
- Development of aircraft capable of air-to-ground operations and combat roles
- Integration of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and air strike coordination capabilities
Expected outcomes
- A low-cost, single-engine turboprop aircraft design
- Capabilities for light attack, anti-drone interception, and close air support
- Enhanced operational effectiveness in hostile and counter-terrorism missions
- Contribution to STEP objectives in defence technologies
Who can apply / participate
- Research organizations
- Industry participants in aerospace and defence
- Consortia including SMEs and large enterprises
- Consortium composition and eligibility detailed in call document section 6
- Eligible countries as per call document section 6
- Must comply with admissibility and eligibility conditions in call document
- Specific consortium size and composition requirements
- Exact eligible countries list
Must check before shortlisting
- Eligibility criteria in section 6 of call document
- Consortium requirements and funding conditions
- Specific technical scope to avoid duplication of existing systems
Money
Indicative budget of EUR 15,000,000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-RA call.
- Indicative budget for 2026 — 15000000EURAllocated for research actions under this topic
Application notes
- Single-stage submission model.
- Proposal page limits and layout as per call document section 5 and application form Part B.
- Eligibility and admissibility conditions in call document section 6.
- Financial and operational capacity requirements in call document section 7.
- Evaluation criteria and award process in call document sections 8 and 9.
- Legal and financial setup detailed in call document section 10.
- Prepare proposal following call document and application form guidelines.
- Submit proposal via Funding & Tenders Portal before deadline.
- Ensure compliance with all eligibility and admissibility criteria.
- Check detailed eligibility and consortium requirements in call document.
- Ensure proposal addresses scope without duplicating existing systems.
- Follow all formatting and submission instructions carefully.
Derived from official EU Funding portal source · updated 7 Jul 2026, 12:17 UTC. Use this as a shortlisting aid; the official call text remains authoritative.
Related calls
These funding calls are closely related and may be worth considering as part of the same funding landscape.
Official source text
Fine print from the EU source record. Expand when you need the original wording.
Topic description
Scope: There is a need for a new multirole light aircraft that can bridge the gap between today’s battlefield and modern technology, as most of the fleet in this segment across the EU is ageing. The future multirole light aircraft (FMLA) concept must not duplicate or create fragmentation of existing systems of turboprop and tactical military transport aircraft and associated electronic systems. By exploiting the existing platforms, technologies and innovations in Europe, this research topic can reduce the risks associated with the development of FMLA capabilities for air-to-ground operations. FMLA should also be effective in specific combat roles such as light attack, anti-drone interception and close air support. The objective of this topic is therefore to develop a low-cost, single-engine (turboprop) aircraft capable of operating in a variety of operational environments, providing direct air support, ground targeting, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance with combat elements, and air strike coordination and reconnaissance with air traffic control support in a forward position in hostile environments during counter-terrorism missions. This topic contributes to the STEP objectives as defined in the STEP Regulation in the target investment area of defence technologies. Targeted types of activities : Studies and design, not excluding upstream and downstream activities eligible for research actions. Indicative budget : EUR 15 000 000 for this topic under the EDF-2026-RA call. Indicative number of proposals to be funded : Several proposals may be funded for this topic.
Conditions and documents
Conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
described in section 5 of the call document.
Proposal page limits and layout: described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System.
2. Eligible Countries
described in section 6 of the call document.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in section 6 of the call document.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in section 7 of the call document.
5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
described section 8 of the call document and the Online Manual.
5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
described in section 9 of the call document.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in section 4 of the call document.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
described in section 10 of the call document.
Call document and annexes:
Application form templates
Standard application form (EDF) — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Detailed budget table (EDF RA)
List of infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources (EDF)
Actual indirect cost methodology declaration (EDF)
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Additional documents:
EDF Programme Security Instruction (PSI)
Guidelines on FSTP implementation - WP2026
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support information
For help related to this call, please contact please add a contact e-mail or url Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – Submission of proposals . IT Helpdesk – Contact the IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc. Online Manual – Step-by-step online guide through the Portal processes from proposal preparation and evaluation to reporting on your ongoing project. Valid for all 2021-2027 programmes.
Raw budget overview
{
"budgetYearsColumns": [
"2026"
],
"budgetTopicActionMap": {
"113481": [
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-AIR-A4R - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-CYBER-QSTN - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-SENS-MSDT - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-MCBRN-DST - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-PROTMOB-FMLA - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-SIMTRAIN-MSAI - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
},
{
"action": "EDF-2026-RA-UWW-FUWN - EDF-RA EDF Research Actions",
"expectedGrants": 0,
"minContribution": 0,
"maxContribution": 0,
"budgetYearMap": {
"2026": "110000000"
},
"plannedOpeningDate": "2026-02-11",
"deadlineModel": "single-stage",
"deadlineDates": [
"2026-09-29"
]
}
]
}
}